Corporate governance, foreign ownership and stock price synchronicity: evidence from Borsa Istanbul

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of corporate governance and foreign ownership on the flow of firm-specific information to stock prices in Turkey. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the relation between governance, ownership and stock price synchronicity that describes firm level information asymmetry and transparency in Turkey. We examine the effects of CEO duality, board independence, board size and foreign ownership on the amount of firm-specific information incorporated into share prices, as measured by stock price synchronicity, for listed firms in Borsa Istanbul 100 Index over 2009–2014 period. We support the view that the R square value in one of the emerging stock markets, Turkey is relatively high. We find that firms with better corporate governance, more independent directors in the board and higher foreign ownership have more firm-specific information incorporated into stock prices and less stock price synchronicity.